ABSTRACT
This chapter provides all basic political, economic, and demographic data on a territorial unit of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Marii El, which is located almost in the middle of European Russia, in the basin of the Volga River. It is surrounded by the highly industrial regions of Tatarstan, Nizhnii Novgorod, Kirov, and Chuvashia. Woods, which cover over half of its territory, are the major wealth of the republic, which otherwise is poor in raw materials. Vyacheslav Kislitsyn rose to power in a bitter election controversy. In an attempt to ensure his reelection, former Marii El President Vladislav Zotin imposed a law requiring all candidates for the presidency to pass a test evaluating their proficiency in the republic’s official language. Marii El has been in a dispute with Chuvashia regarding $33,000 in annual tax revenues collected from the Volga River islands that lie between the two republics.
